Fallout
by KrzyHikaki
Summary: War is occuring and Syaoran's a major part of it. Sakura just tags along, until she is suddenly pulled into the conflict.
1. Ch 1: The Dream

Fallout  
Chapter 1: The Dream

"No..."

I groan from the corner, slowing bleeding to death from a deep wound in my shoulder. On the other side of the moonlit chamber, a magician tried to fend off a tall, imposing attacker, to no avail. Slowly she weakened, until at last collapsed upon the floor, and watched the dark figure draw near.

"I shall ask you one last time," said the tall man, and drew a glowing black sword from a sheath. "Will you join me, and forsake this useless world?"

"I will NEVER join forces with you. Not only do you reek of evil, but Syaoran is MY special person!" The slight girl boasted proudly, but somehow the voice seemed familiar; a little too familiar. I struggled to get a better view of her face.

"Then so be it. You have chosen, and the penalty for that is death!" Drawing my last remaining amount of energy, I leap off the floor and attempt to distract the man. Yet he immediately raised his left hand and conjured a magic wave, which threw me back against the wall, hard. By the time I recovered enough to look back, the poor girl had been impaled by his black sword, and her face was lighted clearly by the moonbeams. I stared in horror.

It was Sakura.

"AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHH!"

* * *

A slight touch brought Syaoran back to reality, gasping for breath and staring at the seat straight in front of him. Beside him, Sakura and the other passengers watched him as he slowly recovered. 

"I'm fine. Sorry, just a bad dream." Syaoran turned and tried to smile at the passengers, most of whom just shrugged and turned back to their work or tried to get more sleep. Sakura, however, looked on worriedly, asking silently with her eyes.

"Are you sure you're all right? Do you want something to drink? Or do you want to tell me about the dream?" Sakura stopped a passing flight attendant and asked for a bottle of water, and then turned back to Syaoran. Syaoran just smiled at his childhood friend and as cheerfully as possible assured her that he was fine. When the water was brought, he downed the entire bottle in a few seconds, and then leaned back in his chair, thinking over his dream.

"What a nightmare. It seemed so real though," he thought silently, and watched Sakura play games on the TV screen in front of her. She occasionally looked over at him, at which Syaoran turned away and blushed slightly. He had a slight crush on her ever since middle school, when he starting noticing how much she had grown. Since then he had been somewhat protective of her, scaring most of the guys who had interest in her, and occasionally threatened the more persistent ones. This had led to several protests from Sakura, who reprimanded and reminded him that she was old enough to handle her own affairs. Yet he still secretly watched over her, making sure none of the guys did anything strange with her. It was fortunate for him that she decided to tag along with him after high school, even if he didn't know the reason why.

"All passengers, please return to your seats and fasten your seat belts. We are starting our descent and will be landing in Taiga Domestic Airport shortly."

Syaoran was officially recruited into the Japanese Military Command two years ago, shortly after his graduation from high school. He had been singled out for his achievements in physical education, and been given the rank of Specialist after completing a dangerous recon mission against the Knights of Roland. Some military commanders had noticed his ability to sneak in undetected, and had him reassigned to the main front in Taiga, where the Knights were actively attacking military targets. Thankfully, they allowed Sakura to accompany him when he told the commanders that she had no other place to go.

"Syaoran?" Syaoran opened his eyes and met Sakura's face not two centimeters away from his. He jumped and tried backing away, but was already all the way back in his chair. "You really all right? You haven't been looking well after that dream you had."

"Really, Sakura, I'm fine. Really. Would you please back away?" Syaoran looked away and tried hard not to stare back at Sakura. Sakura stared at him for a while before turning away to continue her game. Suddenly, the shuttle rocked hard and Sakura's TV flickered before going blank.

"ALERT. All passengers, please return immediately to your seats and fasten your seat belts. The aircraft is under attack by unknown forces. Again, all passengers..."

Another tumble shook the craft, and then the screaming of Splicer missiles and explosions could be heard. Sakura, who had neglected to wear her seat belt, was thrown forward into the seat in front of her, and then into Syaoran's seat.

"Hooeeee, why now?" Sakura struggled to get back into her seat while Syaoran tried not to get excited and thought about the situation. Once Sakura was off him, he decided to go ahead with his plan.

"Sakura, stay here, you hear me? I'm going to the cockpit to see if I can help."

"WHAT? Wait a sec, you're not thinking about doing that, are you?"

"The shuttle is in danger, we could be blown up any minute!"

"Well, if you're going, so am I." As she said this, there was a look of determination in her eyes, and Syaoran knew it was futile trying to dissuade her.

"Fine. Be careful though." The two jumped into the aisle and raced up to the front of the shuttle as wide-eyed passengers and flight attendants watched with surprise.

* * *

Whew, first chapter done. I thought I was NEVER going to finish this... 

Btw, all CCS characters are property of CLAMP. Any other characters are mine. Finally, any similarities between this story and any other works are purely coincidental.


	2. Ch 2: Flight

Ah... sorry for the long wait... I had my finals, and issues on how to get this story moving along... anyway, I hope I don't take as long on my next chapters...

Thanks Moezy-chan for reviewing!

Previously...

"Sakura, stay here, you hear me? I'm going to the cockpit to see if I can help."

"WHAT? Wait a sec, you're not thinking about doing that, are you?"

"The shuttle is in danger, we could be blown up any minute!"

"Well, if you're going, so am I." As she said this, there was a look of determination in her eyes, and Syaoran knew it was futile trying to dissuade her.

"Fine. Be careful though." The two jumped into the aisle and raced up to the front of the shuttle as wide-eyed passengers and flight attendants watched with surprise.

Fallout Chapter 2: Flight

As the two neared the front of the shuttle, a sudden explosion rocked the corridor. A shockwave rippled out from overhead, tossing them past 12 rows of seats straight into a supplies cabinet. Luckily, Syaoran, who had honed his reflexes to an extreme level, flipped over and landed safely on the vertical cabinet. He caught Sakura, who happened to be right behind him, and then jumped off the cabinet back a few steps to the stairs that led to the cockpit. After setting Sakura down, they dashed up the stairs to the control room.

Upon reaching the second floor, they ran into three flight attendants who were clearly there to block any unauthorized personnel from entering the front of the shuttle. Reluctant to use violence on the three innocents, Syaoran instead tried to convince them to let the two of them pass, but failed.

"I really mean it. We could help you chase those attackers away! Would you rather the shuttle be shot down or hijacked?"

"Sir, I must ask you to please return to your seat. We have everything under control. There is no need to panic."

"Everything under control? What was that explosion earlier then? And I don't seem to hear those fighters outside leaving us alone! Why can't you just let us pass?"

"Sir, there is no need for you to get involved. We can resolve this situation on our own. So please go-"

Another explosion rocked the shuttle, this time clearly very close. The flight attendants, unprepared for the shock, fell and struggled to keep from injuring themselves. Syaoran and Sakura, however, who had been better prepared for another shockwave, took the opening and slipped past the flight attendants to the cockpit.

Upon arriving, they entered to see a hole on the right side of the cockpit, and a third of the controls missing. One of the seats had been blasted away, and spots of blood told the sad story of the missing pilot. The other pilot was trying hard not to lose control of the shuttle despite the depressurized atmosphere and the wild winds that were swarming inside. He was so occupied that he didn't notice Syaoran and Sakura's entrance, and thus was surprised when a lightning bolt shot out of the shuttle towards one of the fighters and made a direct hit. The fighter exploded in mid-air, causing the shuttle to reel from the shock and spiral out of control.

"Who the hell are you and what do you think you're doing! This is no place to be playing around, boy!"

"Mr. Pilot, the shuttle is falling rather fast. Wouldn't be better if you regained control first?" A sarcastic Syaoran grinned as the pilot realized that the shuttle was indeed falling faster than recommended. "I hope we don't die because someone was paying too much attention to other things. I mean, what a waste. Those fighters came out and all they needed to do was watch us crash on our own."

"Syaoran, this isn't the time for this! Get those fighters or whatever before they actually do something bad this time!" shrieked Sakura. She was watching the rear camera screen, which displayed two incoming R16 Automated Fighters. After glancing at the screen, Syaoran grimaced.

"What the... not even JMC has deployed automated fighters this advanced. The Knights are unusually serious about this." Syaoran muttered an incantation, and slowly walked to the hole in the wall, careful that one foot was touching the floor at all times. "Sakura, I'm ready. Start whenever you are."

"Ok. Target #1 is at 7 0'clock, and Target #2 is at 11 o'clock. Both are following a 2-1 flight pattern and have... MISSLES!"

"God of Thunder, answer my call! Lightning!" At his call, two lightning bolts shot out of the shuttle and hovered in the air. The two fighters were following so closely that they had no time to dodge the lightning and ran into them, blowing up on the spot. The resounding shockwave sent the shuttle into another deadly dive, but this time there was little altitude left before they crashed.

"Geez, will you people PLEASE stop with the explosions! It's hard enough trying to fly a plane without a third of the console, and you're not making it easier!" The pilot turned his head around sharply to yell at the two, and then went back to flying. "If you're done, either help out or get the hell out of here!"

"If you need help, just ask! Geez, some people have no respect." Syaoran glared at the pilot's back while he pulled out two pieces of paper with strange symbols on them. "God of Wind, answer my call! Wind!"

Suddenly, a huge blast of air threw the shuttle into a heavy turbulence, throwing Syaoran backwards towards Sakura. With but a few inches to spare, he suddenly stopped, flipped over Sakura's braced body, and landed into the other emergency brace, and buckled himself in. The pilot, meanwhile, more accustomed to turbulence rather than explosions, was able to bring the shuttle back under his control. As relief spread over his face, he looked down onto what was left of the controls.

"Thank god. Now all I have to do is determine how far off course we are, and...

Fast forward mode... ….

"Tower 3, this is Falcor 17, requesting emergency landing. Urgently requesting emergency landing." The pilot, pale with stress, echoed repeatedly into the mike.

"Why do we need to request an emergency landing?" Sakura asked from the back, glancing at her watch. "We seem to be only a couple minutes late."

"Because," replied Syaoran, pointing at the console, "we're outta fuel. And the emergency fuel we discovered in the cargo is almost out too."

"We wouldn't be having this problem," growled the pilot, "if a certain SOMEONE didn't knock out the GPS array with a certain spell." He pointedly turned around to glare at Syaoran before returning to intone the request.

"Well, did you have any bright ideas when we were under attack?" Syaoran retorted.

"Um, guys, we've already gone over this 17 times," Sakura tentatively cut in. "Besides," she motioned towards the speakers, "I think I hear something over the radio."

"Falcor 17, this is Tower 3, please state your current status."

"Tower 3, this is Falcor 17. We are currently running on emergency fuel after losing fuel due to sabotage. Fuel supplies are running low. I repeat, we request immediate emergency landing. Over."

"Falcor 17, that is the most bullacrapistic story I've ever heard in my 13 years as a flight controller. Please restate your status."

"GRRRR." The pilot, annoyed at the reply, prepared to deliver a scathing speech into the mike, but was interrupted by Syaoran, who had unbuckled himself during the exchange. "DIDN'T I TELL YOU TO KEEP YOUR BUTT BACK THERE SHRIMP?"

Ignoring him, Syaoran grabbed the mike and yelled, "Air control, this is Syaoran Li, rank Specialist speaking. My military ID is 70M03D4. I verify that the status above is correct and take full responsibility for any consequences. Fuel levels are at level 2and falling rapidly. Requesting emergency landing again. Over."

"Acknowledged, Falcor 17. You are permitted to land on runway C-17. Air Control, over and out."

The pilot stared at Syaoran for a while before coming back to his senses. "After we land, brat, I need to have a few words with you."

Returning to the controls, the pilot maneuvered the crippled plane into a semi-smooth, semi-rough landing while a worried Sakura and a skeptic Syaoran looked on.

Actually, originally I finished this chapter about... 3 days after the first one... but after reading it over a few times, I figured it was too brief and rewrote it. Then I had troubles because I needed to keep stuff consistent later on and had to think about the details for the characters... particularly Syaoran, Sakura, and the roles of Touya and Yukito...

Anyway, plz review!


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